Bigcone Douglas-fir, bigcone-spruce

Abies macrocarpa Vasey, Gard. Monthly & Hort. 18: 21. 1876 (Jan.); Pseudotsuga californica Flous; P. douglasii (Lindley) Carrière var. macrocarpa (Vasey) Engelmann

Trees to 44m; trunk to 2.3m diam.; crown broadly conic. Twigs slender, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves (20--)25--45 × 1--1.5mm, bluish green, apex mucronulate. Pollen cones pale yellow. Seed cones 9--20 × 4--7cm. Seeds 9--12mm. 2 n =24.

Slopes, cliffs, and canyons, in chaparral and mixed coniferous forests; 200--2400m; Calif.

Pseudotsuga macrocarpa , a tree of scattered occurrence and of no concern for timber, is valuable for esthetics and watershed protection. The northernmost stands of the species, in Kern County, are about 35 kilometers east of the closest approach of P . menziesii .

SELECTED REFERENCES

Minnich, R.A. 1982. Pseudotsuga macrocarpa in Baja California? Madroño 29: 22--31.